Famous Corpus Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Corpus poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous corpus poems. These examples illustrate what a famous corpus poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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Bishop Blougrams Apology

..., 
Hints of the bishop,--names me--that's enough: 
"Blougram? I knew him"--(into it you slide) 
"Dined with him once, a Corpus Christi Day, 
"All alone, we two; he's a clever man: 
"And after dinner,--why, the wine you know,-- 
"Oh, there was wine, and good!--what with the wine . . 
"'Faith, we began upon all sorts of talk! 
"He's no bad fellow, Blougram; he had seen 
"Something of mine he relished, some review: 
"He's quite above their humbug in his heart, 
"Half-said as muc...Read more of this...
by Browning, Robert


Colloquy in Black Rock

...ood:
Our ransom is the rubble of his death.

Christ walks on the black water. In Black Mud
Darts the kingfisher. On Corpus Christi, heart,
Over the drum-beat of St. Stephen's choir
I hear him, Stupor Mundi, and the mud
Flies from his hunching wings and beak--my heart,
he blue kingfisher dives on you in fire.
...Read more of this...
by Lowell, Robert

Edmundi Trotii Epitaphium

...id ultra Cineri pretium addit.
Honesta Diciplina domi imbutus,
Peregre profectus
Generosis Artibus Animum
Et exercitiis Corpus firmaverat.
Circaeam Insulam, Scopulos Sirenum
Praeternavigavit,
Et in hoc naufragio morum & saeculi
Solus perdiderat nihil, auxit plurimum.
Hinc erga Deum pietate,
Erga nos Amore & Obsequio,
Comitate erga Omnes, & intra se Modestia
Insignis, & quantaevis fortunae capax:
Delitiae Aequalium, Senum Plausus,
Oculi Parentum, (nunc, ah, Lachrymae)
In eo ta...Read more of this...
by Marvell, Andrew

Something For The Touts The Nuns The Grocery Clerks And You . .

...Cadillac souls
Cadillacs and butterflies
nothing and everything,
the face melting down to the last puff
in a cellar in Corpus Christi.
there's something for the touts, the nuns,
the grocery clerks and you . . .
something at 8 a.m., something in the library
something in the river,
everything and nothing.
in the slaughterhouse it comes running along
the ceiling on a hook, and you swing it --
one
two
three
and then you've got it, $200 worth of dead
meat, its bones against your ...Read more of this...
by Bukowski, Charles

The Ballad of Persse OReilly

...us) With the deaf and dumb Danes,
 And all their remains.

And not all the king's men nor his horses
Will resurrect his corpus
For there's no true spell in Connacht or hell
 (bis) That's able to raise a Cain....Read more of this...
by Joyce, James


The Bulls

...s
That chewed their cud without a fret,
And swished to brush away the flies,
Unwitting their soon sacrifice.

It is the Corpus Christi fête;
Processions crowd the bannered ways;
Before the alters women wait,
While men unite in hymns of praise,
And children look with angel gaze.

The bulls know naught of holiness,
To pious pomp their eyes are blind;
Their brutish brains will never guess
The sordid passions of mankind:
Poor innocents, they wait resigned.

Till in a black room e...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

The Millers Tale

...she, and clapt the window to;
And Absolon went forth at sorry pace.
"A beard, a beard," said Hendy Nicholas;
"By God's corpus, this game went fair and well."
This silly Absolon heard every deal*, *word
And on his lip he gan for anger bite;
And to himself he said, "I shall thee quite*. *requite, be even with
Who rubbeth now, who frotteth* now his lips *rubs
With dust, with sand, with straw, with cloth, with chips,
But Absolon? that saith full oft, "Alas!
My soul betake I unto...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Vision of Judgment

...
Since they were both damn'd long ago, and still in 
Their place below: for me, I have forgiven, 
And vote his "habeas corpus" into heaven.' 

LXXII 

'Wilkes,' said the Devil, 'I understand all this; 
You turn'd to half a courtier ere you died, 
And seem to think it would not be amiss 
To grow a whole one on the other side 
Of Charon's ferry; you forget that his 
Reign is concluded; whatso'er betide, 
He won't be sovereign more: you've lost your labor, 
For at the best he w...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

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